Burgoyne and Downey's text in Script Analysis covers all aspects of the traditional course, but in a framework that extends the subject beyond the needs of this course. While instructing students in the process of turning a written text into a performance, it uses the  broad tool of critical thinking to provide students with tools that they will then be able to use in theater as well as in their studies in other courses -- as well as in their lives. Bringing the higher level thinking skills to script analysis enlivens the course while broadening its appeal to students who may well come from outside the theater major. 

The tools brought to bear throughout the book include challenging misconceptions, structuring the thought process, drawing from everyday life examples, carefully building skills one upon another as the student masters them, encouraging students in group work, and providing direction in managing the student's thought and creative processes. The book thus uses the scope of script analysis to improve skills in close reading, critical thinking, effective writing, productive group work, and "mental management."